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ousewife Wina Amalia, 32, always prepares snacks for her 9-year-old son, a pupil at a private elementary school in Depok, West Java, to eat at school, forbidding him from buying snacks from street vendors.

Although there are not many vendors near her son’s school, health and hygiene are her two main concerns about street snacks for children.

“I always tell my kids not to buy snacks from outside [school], just buy them inside the school canteen,” the mother-of-two told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Another Depok resident Desy Wahyuni also tells her 6-year-old child who studies in a state elementary school in Depok that the sellers and the equipment used to make treats are not hygienic. She goes further telling her daughter that the food will make her ill.

She is also concerned about the cleanliness standards of the lines of street vendors selling snacks outside her child’s school.

“If they want snacks, I just buy them in mini markets. It’s cleaner. I don’t want her to get sick,” Desy said.

The concerns shared by the two mothers are not without basis. Depok Health Agency recently revealed that in a survey of snacks sold in 40 elementary schools in the city 34 items were contaminated by the Escherichia coli (E-coli) bacteria.

Agency secretary Ernawati said while the sample, amounting to 0.3 percent of the snacks, was “not significant”, the agency would still remain concerned about the waterborne bacteria. The bacteria was found in snacks such as mung beans, es buah (fruit served in shredded ice and syrup) and soybean beverages. If consumed, especially when a person is unfit, it could cause diarrhea and fever.

“We are increasing our monitoring of snacks sold on school grounds and we will map out the places that have a serious risk of having E-coli in snacks sold by traveling food sellers,” Ernawati said.

“We hope that the schools will also be responsible in relation to their students and raise awareness about the health guidelines for selling healthy snacks among sellers around school premises.”

She also called on parents to make their children’s lunches at home.

“They should also bring their own tumblers or food containers,” she said adding that the bacteria could be from poorly cleaned implements used to serve the food such as plates or spoons.

Ede Surya Darmawan, public health professor from the University of Indonesia, said monitoring was not enough to prevent problems occurring for schoolchildren. He urged better law enforcement to ensure food-hygiene standards.

“Honestly, there are very few rules for ready-made snacks and I can see why. The challenge is that once someone has the ability to cook these snacks, they will just sell them straight away,” Ede told the Post.

He also emphasized the need to have every related party fight against the spread of E-coli, including parents, sellers and community organizations.

“[Sellers should] be taught how to correctly cook their food according to health standards,” he added. (mai)